Sick Knitter

I keep trying to organise myself to post here more regularly, but I'm finding it difficult. Not that I have any knitting to show right now. Between crazy times at work and a nasty cold, I haven't knit anything other than a dishcloth in over a week (I'm on number four - who knows when it will end?).

So, I've got a dilemma. I've been bad. Since I've been sick, I've been drinking tea non-stop. I didn't have an electric kettle before, so I picked one up (a red one!) to facilitate the provision of boiling water. But, I had already included a kettle as a possible Christmas gift on the list I provided my family when they asked me for suggestions. My current dilemma is whether or not to let them know that I bought myself something from my list. The complicating factor is that my sister is very pregnant (due in mere days), and she asked for the list so she could buy things early. If she did get me a kettle, it's going to be a pain for her to return it. And since I'm the one who caused this problem, shouldn't I be the one to deal with the repercussions? (If I don't tell her now, I definitely won't be mentioning it later, whether or not I get a second kettle) What would you do?

Cleaning House...

... is not my forte, but I actually did some today. I have never reached my mom's standards of cleanliness, but my apartment still has a lot of construction dust, plus the sand and little bits of shredded paper from my shipment, so I decided to get to work today. I only worked in the bedroom, and there's still a lot more organising to do in there, but it definitely looks better. I washed the windows and the window screens, vacuumed, removed all non-bedroom materials, changed the sheets and cleaned the bathroom. I also moved two of my stash rubbermaid boxes in as temporary bedside tables. Nice.

I've been doing lots of knitting, but I don't have pictures fo any of it. There are a few gift items, but mostly I'm just never home during daylight hours. I'm lucky enough to be able to walk to work in the light (assuming I am organised getting out of the house), but otherwise I almost never see the sun. The next sunny weekend day, I'll have to do a whole photoshoot, for the blog and ravelry.

Yesterday was the Wellington West Wassail, and I met up with some newish friends for a wander that ended up lasting all day! We started off with Folka Voca at the Great Canadian Theatre Company, a horse-drawn wagon ride and free apple cider. There was also a craft fair and two yarn shops before we decided to get lunch, which ended up being pizza from Colonnade Pizza. It is, indeed, good pizza. Then drinks and pie at A's house to round out a lovely day. And now, I'm off to have more pie!

Upcoming Events

There are so many things going on in my "neighbourhood" that I can't decide what to do first! (And how I'm going to fit that in as I continue to open boxes!)

MainWorks Artists Studios Open House

You are invited to attend the annual MainWorks Artists Studios Open-House at 200 Crichton Street in New Edinburgh (please use Avon Lane entrance). See artists at work in their studios and view art in different mediums and styles; oils, acrylics, mixed media, painting, and installation.

Date/Time:
From November 6, 2009 to November 8, 2009
Friday, 5 to 9 pm; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 pm

Location:
MainWorks Artists Studios
200 Crichton Street
Ottawa

260 Fingers

260 Fingers is an invitational exhibition and sale of the work of 26 outstanding clay artists and potters from eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

Our participants have all won recognition for their work; some are emerging artists and some are veterans of the craft scene. Their work can be found in galleries and collections all over Canada and the world.
Time and place

The show opens at 6 p.m. on November 6th 2009.

The show continues 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free.

The Glebe Community Centre is located at Lyon and Third Avenue, one block west of Bank Street and two blocks east of Bronson Avenue. The closest Queensway (417) exit is Bronson South (turn left on Third).

SPAO OPEN HOUSE

Join us for a celebration of photographic achievement and education as we open our doors to the public to commemorate our 4th year anniversary.

Tour the darkroom, computer lab and studio spaces, and view displays, slide shows, demonstrations, live shoots and exhibitions of images by our full-time students.

Come see what’s up at SPAO!

Friday November 6th, 2009
15:00-21:00

Photo Credit: Joël Côté-Cright

Red Wall Gallery at SPAO 168 Dalhousie
613-562-3824
info@spao.ca

Sofa Shopping

Uh, yeah, I haven't posted in a while. Moving seems to have eaten most of my free time and brain capacity. Add the lack of computer/internet access until very recently, and you get blog silence.



So, while I am knitting, the main topic on my mind these days is furniture shopping. I am in a new place now that I'm back in Ottawa (my first *own* place!), and I need to furnish it. Since I'm tired of sitting on the floor, the couch is first on my list!

I have a pretty big living/dining area (the schematic says 17'5" by 18'1", but I haven't measured yet to see how that compares to reality). But, the couch, entertainment/storage and dining all have to fit. So, I thought I'd blog my choices and see if anyone else has any comments.

First, I'm basing my decorating on a rug I love that I got in Turkey last fall.

I'm looking for something gray (medium to dark) with metal legs and some clearance (so you can see through under it). I would like a sectional, but would consider other styles.

1) Philip Van Leeuwen - the Aspen
It's available now, and very reasonably priced, but this one is huge! As in, not even another chair would fit. Very comfy, and could seat 5 people, but not very flexible.

2) EQ3 - the Salema in Urban-Vapour
The worst thing about this couch is the order time - 6-12 weeks! The scale, options and price point are all good. The fabric, since I can't find a good sample on-line, reads as a browny-gray in a similar tone to the Aspen.

3) DWR - the Albert in Slate
Much more expensive than the other options, but this couch is beautiful! The only reason I haven't already ordered it is that it only comes in leather, which I find a bit cold. Although I've been testing out leather couches all over town trying to decide if I can live with it.

4) Montauk - Lily or Tuxedo (which do come in sofas), Kate or Catherine...
Another more expensive option, neither of which have sectional options, but they do have beautiful lines, and Montauk is known for their sustainable practices. My biggest question is around fabrics, and I think I'd just have to go to a showroom (either Montreal or Toronto).

Does anyone know of other options? I'd prefer not to have to ship anything too far, but for the most part, anything I bought would have to be shipped from somewhere.

Knitting in Paris (Knit Groups)

Yes, I'm a bad blogger! I've been back from my vacation for a week already, and I haven't even posted about any of my knitting adventures, never mind any of the other wonderful things I managed to do! Since this is a knitting blog, I'll start out with a knitting themed post, and see if I get around to any additional posts.



I contacted two knitting meetups through Ravelry before I headed out, and managed to visit with both of them. Saturday, the day after my arrival in Paris, I dragged my ass out of bed to head down to the gardens of the Quai Branly Museum to meet the Tricot Opera group.



The gardens were beautiful, and I felt very welcomed! It was great to chat with other knitters again, check out their projects, feel new yarns and see new books and magazines. I've been living under a rock as far as direct access to knitting stuff for a while, so it was a great way to start my trip. FLOUB was even so organised as to bring a thermos of coffee (much needed after my travels the previous day), so it was a real "cafe tricot!"



On Wednesday night, I made my way to L'OisiveThé for TricotThé. Amy has a great little shop, and it was a very welcoming. L'OisiveThé is mostly a tea room, but it has a small selection of yarn available, and I picked up two skeins of Shibui Knits Sock in Pebble, a mixture of gorgeous beiges and blues, with a hint of violet. Admittedly, not a local souvenir yarn purchase, but it was something I'd never seen before, and it's knitting up beautifully!

I made something!

My new sewing machine cover!


The seams aren't perfect, but this is the first thing I've sewn in a long while! The front and back are legs of old pairs of jeans. The sides are colourful leftovers, and are quite old. I'm pretty sure I got them from my grandma.



Yay!

Motivation

So, I don't think I've talked about this here yet, but I've signed up for a half marathon in September! I think it's slightly crazy, considering I was not exercising in any way, shape or form when I signed up (in April), so I was starting from nothing. 21 km is a long way to go!

For reasons I can't talk about, April was a complete write-off for training, but I seem to be doing ok now. I have no illusions about actually running the whole thing. My goal is to train regularly (about three times per week), getting my mileage as high as I can go without hurting myself, and then run/walk the race on the day. It will be doubly difficult as I'm pretty much restricted to treadmill training until September, although I am planning to do some outside runs when I'm on vacation in a week or so.

Can I say that it's really difficult to train right now though? The room I run in does have air conditioning, but given that it's not running unless I'm in the room and the room has large, east facing windows, its often hotter inside than outside. An engineer at work told me that the average temperature for June this year was 50 degrees C!!! I believe it, even if the information I find on weather on the internet doesn't support that. (Just fyi, Weather.com says it's 39 degrees here today, and BBC is actually predicting 38 and rain (I don't know what they're thinking. I've only seen rain here two or three times in two years, and today doesn't look like the day for it.))

So, anyone that's ever lived in a super-hot climate, how does one stay motivated to run when it is so warm? I did 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning, and managed to soak through my moisture-wicking gear and had sweat running down my back and arms. I've never actually experienced that before, even in steamy Ottawa summers. There are some articles on Runner's World, but given that the sweat isn't evaporating, I don't know how much use a lot of that advice will help (a lot of advice revolves around wet hats or ice in a bandana around the neck).

FO: Ishbel

See, I do occasionally finish things! This didn't take much time, only a few days, but I was knitting a lot during that time.



It's difficult to get a shot where my facial expression is normal in the very bright sun. This is the best one I came up with.



Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Sophie's Toes sock yarn Layers of Colour Collection Dark Teal from emilyparson
Needle: 2.25 mm
The yarn was very nice to work with, and looks great.



And some nice flowers in the sun.

Story time

So, I was supposed to be on vacation this week, but things haven't quite worked out as planned. This seems to happen a lot to me, but at least it wasn't a work issue that quashed my plans this time.

On this occasion, my cat got sick the day before I was due to fly out. I feel a bit 'crazy cat lady-ish' admitting that I canceled my vacation for a sick cat, but that's what happened. She has giardiasis, which is not very much fun. I do not recommend it. Anyway, I'm just considering it to be preparation for when I have actual children.

So, the yoga retreat and two days of shopping in Marrakesh has morphed into a week in Paris later this month. (Part of my compensation for working where I do is an allowance that must be spent on travel outside of Sudan, which I need to use.) Not a bad outcome by any stretch. I would actually be leaving this weekend, but the cat needs a second week of treatment, as we haven't managed to kill all of the parasites yet.

So, in my spare time between shoving medication into the cat, I've been knitting on an Ishbel in Sophie's Toes sock yarn in Dark Teal. No pictures yet, as I have some tinking to do. It's become apparent to me that I don't have enough yarn left in the ball to finish it quite as I was planning. The yarn is gorgeous though, so I'll try and get some good pictures in the sun soon!

I'm traveling for work this week, and I don't have my camera cord, so there are no recent pictures to be had, so I thought I'd open with this touristy shot of me at sea level on my way to the Dead Sea (Jordan side) last month.

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting, although I have a Rogue Roses sock with me from the Rockin' Sock Club from Blue Moon Fibre Arts. I fly home tomorrow morning, if all goes well, so it's about time for me to go to bed now.

Life runs away

So, life (or at least blogging) has kind of been getting away from me these days. I've had all sorts of plans to post, but it just doesn't seem to happen that often.

Today is just a quick update. I found out the other day that I'm going to be an aunt! The first thing that came to mind is what I should knit for the upcoming baby. My sister isn't planning on finding the gender out until it's born, so I will have to come up with some good gender neutral knits until I find out what I'm dealing with. It should be a Christmas baby, so I will hopefully get to spend some time home with my sister and the new baby around then. Yay!

I finished something!

It's not much, but it's the first thing I finished in a while. (Particularly the 'finishing' portion) Sadly, I don't have any pictures of them on the tiny recipient, but hopefully those will be available in the near future.

Pattern: Saartje's Booties
Yarn: Blue Moon Fibre Arts Socks that Rock leftover from some basic socks. (I think the colour is Farmhouse.)
Needles: 2.75mm
Buttons: Random ones from A's button collection (from the spare buttons that come with clothes)

Long Absence

Wow, it's been a long time since I've done a real post! I got busy, as happens from time to time. There was a month or so where I was doing nothing except work (I worked two weeks of overtime in just under four weeks!), and it's taken a few weeks to start feeling normal again.

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting, although there has been some. Of course, there aren't any pictures. I'm easing myself back into blogging slowly. :)

I have a number of babies upcoming, so I thought I'd try out the Elijah pattern. I've got my first one done minus one ear and arm. A very cute pattern, although picking up the stitches for each new piece is definitely finicky. I have also started my Rogue Roses socks from the last 2009 Rockin' Sock Club mailing. I started a Wisteria, but haven't even finished the yoke, and it's been set aside for who knows how long. I should really just pick something and finish it!

In non-knitting news, I'm starting to get ready to move back to Ottawa! I should be back, trying to get settled sometime in early September! As you can probably tell by the exclamation points, I'm looking forward to the change. I love having the chance to live in another cultures for a while, but there are things I miss. Two years is a pretty good length of time for Sudan, and I'm ready to go home.

Wow

I found this on Shan's blog, and just had to share...



I've done nothing but work for the last while, and as I don't discuss work on this here blog, that's about all I've got.

Update

I don't have much of a brain to write with today, but I thought I'd at least post that I am still alive, and knitting. More soon...

Endpaper Mitts in progress

So, I started a pair of Endpaper Mitts, and the pattern is great! really well written/charted, and I really liked the tubular cast on! Unfortunately, the tubular cast off is not working out so well for me... yet. I've only tried it once, and then didn't want to take the (almost completed) mitt traveling. So, it's been sitting for a bit. Hopefully this weekend I will sit down and work out that final cast off so I can start the second one.


The first picture is a bit dark, but shows the lovely variations in the Sundara sock yarn I'm using. The colours are more true in this photo.

I say that I want to get to the second one, but really, I'll likely cast on for something else. I plan to be in Canada in March, and these are not quite right for the dead of winter, so I think I may make a pair of Bella's mittens instead, and finish number two in this set for next fall.

No news is good news

Umm, so I haven't posted in a bit. I'm actually traveling for work these days, and while I have a pretty regular connection to the Internet, I don't have much to blog about. (You know, since I don't blog about work stuff, and that's about all I'm doing right now.) Then again, I could try to get caught up on some of my random travels over the last three months. As far as I remember, I didn't blog any of Turkey or London.

Ok, here are some pictures of Antalya, Turkey:



After leaving Syria in October, I landed myself in Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast. I met up with a friend from Canada, and we wandered around the Old City for a few days. This is a view over the bay on our first night in town. Mid-October is the end of the tourist season there, so it was much less crowded than the height of summer.



From the same spot, looking in a slightly different direction.



This is Hadrian's Gate, which is one of the few remaining parts of the walls of the old city.



Beautiful up close!



We also spent a few afternoons at St Paul's Place, which had one of the few good lattes I had in Turkey. Turkish coffee was decent, but anywhere I tried to order a latte (cause I like lots of milk with my coffee), it was pretty bad. This place also had a cat that liked to sit on my lap!

Mission Possible 2008 Update

Umm, let's just say that this wasn't my best effort...

1. long socks in Mountain Colours Barefoot, stalled a year ago by the loss of a needle (finish ribbing on two socks) I still need to redo the bind-off on one sock!
2. Souvenir Scarf (graft two pieces together, block) I haven't touched this yet...
3. Baby surprise jacket (purchased yarn for several, need to make at least one) finished!
4. Icarus Shawl finished
5. Samus cardigan (rework to fit me or gift) Still waiting
6. my own scarf finished!
7. Gatsby Girl (sew arms to body, crochet neck edging, add buttons) hopefully in time to wear in March! finished! on time too!
8. Colourwork Vest (finish or frog) no progress
9. baby blanket and the box of grandma's acrylic (?) no progress
10. make a top that fits from some of my extensive bamboo yarn collection I started a Stargazer, but didn't get far...
11. finish spinning the orange roving from Rhinebeck 2005 and knit something from it no progress
12. catalog and organise stash!

Happy New Year!

Wow! I had such plans for posting over my time away from work, but it didn't turn out at all like I had planned. I will hopefully catch up on my travels later this week, but for now, just a few things to post.

1. My New Year's Resolution: This year, I will choose more consciously how I use what free time I have. I don't necessarily work too long as far as hours go, but the subject matter can sometimes be all consuming. As a result, I tend to come home and collapse on the couch at the end of the day and turn my brain off; as a result, I don't get enough exercise, eat well enough or actually do the things I want to get done. Tonight, I made stirfry, which was pretty impressive for me. I even bought broccoli, which is not local produce, so I could have something green!

2. My cat is crazy! She is usually pretty standoffish, except for a day or so after I get back from traveling. I got back on Friday, and she's been stuck to my side like glue since. After a few hours of sleep Friday morning, I unpacked. Here is my cat taking over the Noro Iro cowl I made while I was away.



She's been sleeping beside me, or on my stuff, ever since. I'm not complaining seriously, since I love it. The only thing that would be better would be if she would sit on my lap. It's just unusual.